seed-paths

dbt_project.yml

seed-paths: [directorypath]

Definition

Optionally specify a custom list of directories where seed files are located.

Default

By default, dbt expects seeds to be located in the seeds directory. For example, seed-paths: ["seeds"].

Paths specified in seed-paths must be relative to the location of your dbt_project.yml file. Avoid using absolute paths like /Users/username/project/seed, as they may lead to unexpected behavior.

• ✅ Do:

  # Recommended relative path example
  seed-paths: ["seed"]

• ❌ Don't:

  # Avoid using absolute paths
  seed-paths: ["/Users/username/project/seed"]

Examples

Use a subdirectory named custom_seeds instead of seeds

dbt_project.yml

seed-paths: ["custom_seeds"]

Co-locate your models and seeds in the models directory

Note: this works because dbt is looking for different file types for seeds (.csv files) and models (.sql files).

dbt_project.yml

seed-paths: ["models"]
model-paths: ["models"]

Split your seeds across two directories

Note: We recommend that you instead use two subdirectories within the seeds/ directory to achieve a similar effect.

dbt_project.yml

seed-paths: ["seeds", "custom_seeds"]